The interior, like so many concept cars, will probably not make it to market fully intact due to its four individual bucket seats with unusually delicate headrests, minimalist switchgear and i-Drive electronic interface, not at least in base form. After all, in order to meet that $25,000 price point a few things will have to go. Just the same the design exercise is extremely elegant, showing that natural fabrics and leathers can meet today's lightweight requirements as easily as man-made materials. Forming the cockpit's dash an aluminum crossbar is visibly supported by two soft neoprene covered wing-like swinging arms that rise up out of the center tunnel and extend outward to each side. The right-side arm is flexible and can provide access to the bag-like glove compartment directly behind. Shrouding the aluminum dash is a series of dome-like flexible neoprene surfaces hovering as if in space. Just below is a free-standing speedometer and tachometer attached directly to the steering column in motorcycle fashion.
The high-tech i-Drive interface would probably meet a more enthusiastic crowd in the CS1's price demographic than it does in the 7-Series, whose buyers are traditionally further in years and thus more often less 'wired'. A single rotating knob allows controlling access to the audio system, climate control, navigation and specific driver preferences, via a dash mounted monitor. It's a great concept that takes some time to master, even for computer savvy automotive pundits. Still, for esthetic reasons alone it's worth the effort - the dash and console area is uncommonly uncluttered.
As mentioned previously the CS1 is rear-wheel drive, completely nonconformist when compared to other cars in this compact category. But that said it's a BMW and therefore can be anything but average. The rear-drive configuration allows for a longitudinally mounted engine ensuring optimal weight distribution, also in BMW tradition. The engine itself is a 1.8-L 4-cylinder using Valvetronic valve control to produce 115-hp and 129 lb-ft of torque, at 5,500 and 3,750 rpm respectively. When produced it's difficult to speculate if the North American market will get this same power unit, but it makes sense that something quite a bit more powerful will be optional at the very least.